


Working Miracles

by dizmo



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Castle
Genre: Community: intoabar, Conversations, Crossover, Gen, Richard Castle is an Excellent Small Business Owner, SHIELD Agent Downtime, the Old Haunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 05:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/858480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizmo/pseuds/dizmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard goes to the Old Haunt and has a cordial chat with a new patron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> For the Ficathon Walks Into A Bar challenge. Prompt: Rick Castle walks into a bar and meets... Jemma Simmons!

The Old Haunt was buzzing as Richard Castle walked in, which was, needless to say, quite gratifying. He had different reasons for owning the place than most business owners did, definitely. But it was still nice to see that people were still appreciating the old place. Eddie, of course, once he saw him, started playing his theme on the piano. Rick grinned over at him in appreciation.

He then glanced around, saying hello to some regulars— writers who preferred the ambiance to that of trendy coffee shops, off-duty cops who were finding the place through word of mouth, and of course some folks from the neighborhood. He also introduced himself to some newer patrons whom he hadn't seen around before.

Rick walked up to one of said newbies who was sitting at the bar. She was a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair, and she was nursing a cocktail. He straightened to appear more 'professional' than 'pick-up artist', and spoke up. "Hi. Haven't seen you around. Richard Castle. I'm the owner of the place and just wanted to check to see if everything was treating you okay."

She glanced over and smiled a little, responding with an English lilt. "Hello, Mr. Castle. I'm Jemma, and yes, it seems rather nice. I'm just waiting for a friend. He should be here pretty shortly."

He laughed, just a bit. "Ah, say no more. I totally understand. This place absolutely has a certain rustic charm than lends itself well to—"

"Oh, please, _please_ stop there before I just start laughing too much. Really. He's _just_ a friend. We work together and we're much more like... like siblings. Absolutely no need for rustic charm. Although I'm sure it's very appreciated when it _is_ needed."

He raised his hands in acquiescence. "Say no more. I also know from personal experience that it's a great place for work friends to meet up, too."

"It seems that way. It was certainly a... long day at work."

Her tone was utterly familiar. "That bad, huh?"

She smiled wryly. "Oh, you have absolutely no idea."

Rick nodded sympathetically. "I think everyone has those days." He leaned an elbow on the bar. "Want to vent a little?"

"I'm really not sure how much of it I can talk about. Some of it deals with, well, proprietary company information."

"Well, then, just go with what you _can_ say. I'm a writer, and believe me, I'm very good at filling in blanks with amusing and yet utterly implausible connecting dots. I promise to remain entertained. Let's start with something simple. What is it you do?"

She paused to take a sip of her drink. "I'm a biochemist."

"Ooo, yeah. I can definitely see eight thousand ways _that_ might run up into company secrets."

Jemma laughed a little. "You could definitely say that. It was just stressful. There was a very, _very_ tight deadline, and my boss was basically demanding a miracle."

"Definitely stressful. Gotta love hardass bosses."

"He's definitely demanding. But deep down, he's a lot better guy than most people give him credit for, I think."

"I know the type. So how did it end up? Did you deliver the miracle?"

And at that question, Jemma grinned. "You know what? We absolutely did."

Rick grinned right back at her. "In that case, I think this is a cause for celebration." He turned to the bartender. "Hey, Jake. This lovely young lady's a miracle worker. She's got a friend coming. When he gets here, they get two drinks a piece on me. And some food if they want it."

Jake nodded with a smile as he cleaned up some empties from some departing patrons. "You got it, boss."

Jemma smiled. "You really shouldn't have, Mr. Castle."

He grinned. "Too late. I did." He glanced over at the door to see a young man walking in and glancing around. "And if I don't miss my guess, that's my cue to get back to my rounds. Have a great evening, okay?"

"I will. Thank you very much."

"You provided a miracle. I just managed a few drinks. More than fair, I think." He grinned and walked off, humming to himself.

That, he figured, had been a more than perfect ending.


End file.
